Apprentice
by Pagen Godess
Summary: Gobber knew deep down that Berk was in good hands (and claws) as long as they had Hiccup there to help teach them the ways of the dragons. Part 5 of the Lonely Youngling Series


**Apprentice**

Gobber couldn't help the small smile that crossed his face as he watched Hiccup move around inside his forge. He hadn't seen Hiccup there for smiting in quite a while and there was something nostalgic about watching the boy move around the large room and work with the metal within. It was more likely than not that the skinny lad was fixing some part of Toothless' tailfin while he had a few free moments.

Now a days that was just about the only reason Hiccup entered the forge. Well he did help with making or repairing dragon saddles when he had the chance or when there was a new dragon breed. Besides Hiccup had his own things to do now and they were a bit more important than his old job as Gobber's apprentice.

Not that Gobber really had anything left to tech the boy about being a blacksmith. Besides Hiccup had his own apprentices to teach now and Gobber found that there was nothing more gratifying than watching the boy he'd spent years teaching teach others. It didn't matter that Hiccup was teaching a class on dragons instead of how to make a sword or fix a shield. Teaching was teaching no matter what shape the act chose to take.

It was hard to believe how far Hiccup had come in such a short time. A season ago the lad had been nothing more than a bother to more than half the village and now when something went wrong (usually something to do with the villages many dragons) over half the village went looking for Hiccup to get an answer to the problem. Not that it was really all that surprising because Gobber had always known that Hiccup was smart. Hel, Hiccup was smarter than most of their little tribe when it came to a lot of things. Most of the other Hiccups throughout Berk's history had been smarter than they'd had any real right to be as well.

They'd had to be smart however in order to survive the harsh lives that Vikings lived. But still for all of Hiccup's intelligence the poor lad had been as uncoordinated as a young horse and trouble had followed in the boys shadow like a black cat stalking a sea bird on the beach. Truth be told he was still both things but it just wasn't as noticeable as it had been before. Now when he stumbled and fell the villagers blamed it on his fake foot instead of his clumsiness.

And when trouble came the boy's way he had help when facing it and more often than not it was resolved before things got too bad or before anyone other than Stoick noticed. It was heartwarming to see his once apprentice flourish so much in such a short amount of time when he'd been struggling before. When Gobber looked at Hiccup now he didn't see the same lad that had been there the previous spring no now he saw a much happier person.

Hiccup was happier now than Gobber had ever seen him and about the only time the lad had been happy before had been when there was something new for him to learn and that hadn't been as often as Gobber had liked. He'd tried of course to find as many things as he could to teach the boy but Hiccup learned so fast that the things that were supposed to hold him off for a week or more only lasted a few days. Now however there was always something new to learn and to teach after.

Gobber had seen Hiccup and Fishlegs pouring everything they could think of into the Book of Dragons and the books for dragon training. There were things in the Book of Dragons now that had never been there before and never would have been if not for Hiccup. Facts about Changwings, Thunderdrums, and a whole section on Night Furies that hadn't been there before as well as things like dragon grass and the location of a dragon's sweet spot.

They'd learned so much about dragons in such a short amount of time that it was almost enough to make Gobber's head spin. Gobber was sure that Bork the Bold would have been proud of all that they had learned and all that they were still learning about the beasts he'd started studying so long ago. The Island of Burk had a bright future ahead of her thanks to Hiccup.

A future that was so much brighter than it had ever been and he was so proud that he'd had some part, big or small, to play in it. There would be rough times he knew. What with Alvin and his tribe looking to cause trouble whenever he was able and eventually word would spread to the other tribes about the dragons that made Berk their home but he was ready.

All of them were because he'd seen Hiccup and the others training their dragons to fight together and he'd been told about the times that they had fought together by Stoick. He'd never seen the other man so giddy about a fight that wasn't one of his own but the chief talked about his son like there was no finer a Viking in the Meridian of Misery. It was so much better to hear his old friend talk about Hiccup with pride than it had been to hear him moan and complain about how little the lad could do.

It was nice to see things between father and son going so smoothly. Well, they were smooth most of the time but still it was another improvement that had been brought about by the coming of dragons. Gobber would take what he could get when it came to Hiccup and Stoick. He knew better than to look too look the gift horse in the mouth when it came to those two. Beside he was no substitute for a boy's father and he'd spent years trying not to be only for his attempts to fail miserably.

Not that he didn't love the boy like Hiccup was his own son (because he was to an extent) it just wasn't something that looked very good when it came to Stoick because Stoick hadn't been good with his son for a very long time. Gobber had hated that people turned to him for explanations when it came to Hiccup instead of turning to Stoick for their answers. He was fine with it when Stoick was gone off to hurt for the dragon's nest or on a raid but he'd worried about what it would do to his old friend when people turned to him for help and Stoick was on the island. It hadn't mattered of course because eventually even Stoick started coming to Gobber for help with his son. In the end he'd thrown up his hand and given up on trying to get people to go to Stoick for answers when it came to his son.

That had all changed of course because now the only question Gobber really had to answer about Hiccup was to tell people that he didn't know where the boy was. Every time someone asked Stoick the man pointed at the old dragon pin and sent the questioner on their merry way. Gobber always got a good laugh when people went there to look and Hiccup was gone off somewhere else. It was amusing to think that the villagers assumed that Hiccup was going to keep his feet on the ground all the time. It was also a little sad because he'd seen one man watch Hiccup take off into the sky before he'd gone right to the Dragon Academy to ask the Hiccup something. It had been one of those moments where all he could do was shake his head and laugh.

There were moments when Gobber feared for the future that was to come but for every moment he feared there was also a moment of hope. Gobber knew deep down that Berk was in good hands (and claws) as long as they had Hiccup there to help teach them the ways of the dragons.

OOOOOOOO

Look here's another one. I'm a little late but I'm hoping that you guys will forgive me. I spent most of last month working on a ten thousand word monster. I hope you enjoyed Gobber's story. For those of you who've asked about me doing Astrid, Fishlegs, and The twins. I'm thinking about it. I'm not sure if I'm going to do it yet though. I have one more one shot planned for this at the moment and I'll try and get it posted this month but I make no promises.

Pagen


End file.
